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Davey Johnson
David Allen Johnson (born January 30, 1943 in ) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and later manager best remembered as the manager of the 1986 World Series champion New York Mets. He is currently a Senior Adviser for the Washington Nationals. Playing career After one season playing baseball at Texas A&M University, Johnson signed with the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent in . He made the team, and was in the opening day line-up for the season opener, but spent most of the season in the minors, where he batted .301 for the Rochester Red Wings. On June 13, , the Orioles traded second baseman Jerry Adair to the Chicago White Sox to make room for Johnson at second base. He responded with a .257 batting average, seven home runs and 56 runs batted in to finish third in American League Rookie of the Year balloting for the 1966 World Series champions. In the 1966 World Series, Johnson earned the distinction of being the last person to get a hit off of Sandy Koufax. Johnson reached the World Series again with the Orioles in , and , winning his only other ring as a player in . He also won the AL Gold Glove Award at second base all three seasons. Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger won the award as well in and , joining a select list of eight shortstop-second baseman combinations have won the honor in the same season while playing together. Third baseman Brooks Robinson also was in the middle of his record 16 straight Gold Glove streak when Johnson and Belanger won their awards. Following the season, Johnson was traded with Pat Dobson, Roric Harrison and Johnny Oates to the Atlanta Braves for Taylor Duncan and Earl Williams. Johnson's best statistical year came in with the Braves when he tied Rogers Hornsby's record for most single-season home runs by a second baseman with 42 (he actually hit 43 that year, but one came as a pinch hitter - The Sporting News Baseball Record Book, 2007 p. 23). The 1973 Braves featured the first trio of teammates ever to all hit 40 home runs in the same season when Johnson hit 43, Darrell Evans hit 41, and Hank Aaron hit 40. Johnson's second-highest was 18 home runs in the season - considered to be a good number for second baseman, itself. Four games into the season, Johnson was released by the Braves. He signed and played in the Japanese League for the Yomiuri Giants (1975–1976). He returned to America in , signing as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. During the season, Johnson hit two grand slam home runs as a pinch-hitter for the Phillies. Shortly afterwards, he was dealt to the Chicago Cubs, where he ended his playing career. Johnson, batting against Jerry Koosman, was the last batter of the 1969 World Series - flying out to give the Mets their first World Championship. He would go on to manage the Mets to their second, with Jesse Orosco striking out the final batter. Coincidentally, the two pitchers had been traded for each other after the 1978 season. Johnson would manage Orosco again in Baltimore, as Orosco signed with the Orioles as a free agent in 1995, a year before Johnson arrived. Managing career Johnson managed the New York Mets (1984–1990), Cincinnati Reds (1993–1995), Baltimore Orioles (1996–1997), and Los Angeles Dodgers (1999–2000). New York Mets Johnson began his managerial career in with the independent Miami Amigos of the Inter-American League. After guiding them to a 51-21 record, he became a coach in the New York Mets farm system. He won pennants in each of his three seasons in the minors, and within a few years was manager of the Mets' top farm team, the Tidewater Tides. He took over the parent club, which hadn't won a pennant since , in 1984, and was eager for success. Johnson went on to become the first National League manager to win at least 90 games in each of his first five seasons, with the highlight being winning the World Series in against the Boston Red Sox. Interestingly, while with the Baltimore Orioles, Johnson made the final out to clinch the Mets' first World Championship in . However, Johnson rankled Mets management with his easygoing style. When the Mets struggled early in the 1990 season, he was fired. He is still the winningest manager in Mets history. Cincinnati Reds After more than two seasons out of baseball, the Cincinnati Reds hired him 44 games into the 1993 season. As was the case with the Mets, Johnson revived the Reds almost immediately. He led the team to the National League Central lead at the time of the 1994 players' strike, and won the first official NL Central title in . However, early in the 1995 season, Reds owner Marge Schott announced Johnson would not return in 1996, regardless of how the Reds did. Schott named former Reds third baseman Ray Knight (who had also played for Johnson on the Mets championship team) as bench coach, with the understanding that he would take over as manager in 1996. Johnson and Schott had never gotten along, and relations had deteriorated to the point that he'd nearly been fired after the 1994 season. By most accounts, the final straw came because Schott didn't approve of Johnson living with his then-fiancée, Susan, before they were married. Baltimore Orioles Almost immediately, Johnson returned to Baltimore as the Orioles' manager. Again, he breathed new life into a struggling franchise as the Orioles earned a wild-card playoff berth in (the Orioles' first trip to the postseason since winning the 1983 World Series) and the American League East title in . However, Johnson and Orioles owner Peter Angelos never got along; the two men almost never spoke to each other. The final straw reportedly came when Johnson fined Roberto Alomar for skipping a team banquet in April 1997 and an exhibition game against the Rochester Red Wings (the Orioles' top farm team at the time) during the 1997 All-Star Break. Johnson ordered Alomar to pay the fine by making out a check for a fine to a charity run by Johnson's wife, Susan. However, Alomar donated the money to another charity after players' union lawyers advised him of the possible conflict of interest. In negotiations after the season, Johnson was prepared to admit he'd made an error in judgment regarding the fine, but Angelos demanded that Johnson admit that he'd acted recklessly in not leaving the decision to him. Johnson refused to do so, and offered his resignation--which was accepted by Angelos on the same day that Johnson was named American League Manager of the Year. Los Angeles Dodgers In 1999, Johnson was hired as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had beaten Johnson's heavily favored Mets in seven games in the National League Championship Series. Unfortunately, Johnson suffered the first full losing season of his managerial career, finishing in third place eight games under .500. While the Dodgers rebounded to second place the next year, it was not enough to save Johnson's job. Managerial records 2000 - present Johnson briefly managed the Netherlands national team in 2003 during the absence of Robert Eenhoorn, then served as a bench coach under Eenhoorn at the 2004 Summer Olympics.Kepner, Tyler. "Davey Johnson Has a Soft Spot for Dutch Baseball Team." The New York Times, 11 March 2009. He then became manager of Team USA, where he managed the United States team to a seventh-place finish out of an 18-team field in the Baseball World Cup, held in The Netherlands. The team finished tied for second in its group during group play with a 6–2 record before falling, 11–3, to eventual winner and 24-time World Cup champion Cuba in the quarterfinals. A subsequent 9–0 loss to Nicaragua put the Americans into the seventh-place game with Puerto Rico, where they prevailed with an 11–3 win. Johnson also served as bench coach for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic. He managed the USA baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. On June 7, 2006, Johnson was hired by the Washington Nationals as a consultant to team general manager Jim Bowden. Bowden was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds when Johnson served as the team's manager. Speculation that Johnson might be hired as manager of the Baltimore Orioles ended on August 22, 2007. The Orioles made interim manager Dave Trembley the permanent replacement for Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, who was fired on June 18, 2007. Johnson was the last skipper to guide the Orioles to a winning season. In 2009 he managed Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. In November, 2009 Johnson was hired as a Senior Adviser by Washington Nationals. Personal life He attended the Johns Hopkins University in addition to Texas A&M, and graduated from Trinity University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. http://www.trinity.edu/departments/alumni_relations/profiles/0911_Davey_Johnson.htm He was known for taking a statistical approach to baseball. http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/davey-johnson-the-mets-and-sabermetrics/ Johnson's daughter, Andrea, was a nationally-ranked amateur surfer in the late 1980s. However, Andrea died in 2005 from septic shock. See also * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * List of Gold Glove middle infield duos References External links *Baseball Hall of Fame - 2008 Veterans Committee candidate profile *Page at BaseballLibrary Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan Category:American League All-Stars Category:Atlanta Braves players Category:Baltimore Orioles managers Category:Baltimore Orioles players Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:Cincinnati Reds managers Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Los Angeles Dodgers managers Category:Major League Baseball managers Category:Major League Baseball players from Florida Category:Major League Baseball second basemen Category:Manager of the Year Award Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:National League All-Stars Category:New York Mets managers Category:People from Orlando, Florida Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Texas A&M University alumni Category:Yomiuri Giants players Category:Second Basemen Category:Managers Category:Players